Linda Clark, Health Care Controversies Team leader, was interviewed for the Crain’s New York Business Health Pulse article “Advocates Push Revised Medicaid Audit Reform Bill to Combat Excessive Fines.” The article explains that the current Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) audit process often results in providers receiving massive fines, and a bill to reform the audit process aims to prevent this from happening.
According to providers, OMIG’s current audit process for administrative Medicaid errors is unfair. Linda said, “New York is an outlier in terms of how aggressive it is as an auditor. It’s hard for us to understand why the state would be auditing in a more aggressive way than the federal government would be.” The extrapolation process, a point of focus in the revised bill, could result in fines that are far higher than the cost of the errors made.
The revised bill’s goal is to bring New York State’s audit process in line with that of the federal government. If passed, the bill could mean that more providers are able to keep their doors open.
Crain’s New York Business subscribers can read the full article here.